Settlement Plan (Western Sahara)

Settlement Plan is an agreement between the Polisario Front and Morocco on the organization of a referendum , which will be an expression of the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara , leading either to complete independence or integration with the Kingdom of Morocco. This led to a ceasefire, which remains in force to this day, and the creation of a UN peacekeeping mission created to monitor the ceasefire and organize a referendum.

It was based on an earlier peace proposal by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), but this time organized by the United Nations. First introduced in late 1980 and 1990 in Security Council resolution 658, the plan was signed in 1991 . A referendum was to be held in 1992 , but this did not happen, as both sides did not agree on who should be allowed to vote. In 1997, the UN Houston Agreement attempted to clear the path to a referendum to be held in 1998 and published a comprehensive electoral qualification. However, due to the refusal in Morocco to accept the census results, and, therefore, the probability of accepting the proposal for the main referendum participants is unlikely, the UN Secretary General suspended the settlement plan. ^[one]

Another decision was proposed by the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General, James Baker in 2001, as the Baker I Plan , which was adopted by Morocco but rejected by the Frente POLISARIO, and the Baker II Plan in 2003 was rejected by Morocco, but adopted by Algeria, POLISARIO and the UN Security Council ^{[ 2]} . In June 2004, James Baker stepped down as UN envoy to Western Sahara.